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Should I take a separate camera on holiday?

Smartphone cameras are catching up with compacts, helped by improvements in lens technology and an army of apps. For most people, they have high enough resolution and large enough apertures for general use on holiday.

But not all smartphone cameras are created equal. The best for more serious photographers is the Nokia Lumia 920 (£400 on PAYG from orange.co.uk). It has an 8.7-megapixel (MP) camera with a capable lens and image stabilisation. The richness of colour and detail on my test shots was impressive. Lumias run Windows Phone 8, so you won’t find the mass of photo apps that are available on other platforms.

The new Samsung Galaxy S4 has recently been released, and its 13 MP camera comes with software such as panorama mode and high dynamic range (HDR) shooting. The Sony Xperia Z (£490 contract-free from phones4u.co.uk) also has a 13 MP camera.

The iPhone’s camera isn’t a match for those, but I switch the default camera for an app called Camera+ (campl.us; iPhone/iPad; 69p). The ability to separate exposure and focus when composing a shot is one useful feature borrowed from more professional cameras. The Lightbox has a clarity function to even out underexposed patches. King Camera (saycheezzz.com; iPhone; free, or £1.49 for hi-res, ad-free version) is an alternative.

To get creative with composition, you also need the added flexibility of different lenses. The Olloclip Quick-Connect Lens (£70 from store.apple.com/uk) clips on to an iPhone 4, 4S or 5, adding a macro, fisheye or wide-angle lens to the inbuilt camera. The Mujjo Fisheye Pro Lens (£33 from firebox.co.uk) attaches to almost any smartphone and takes extreme wide-angle shots that liven up any album.

Image quality plunges as soon as you use your smartphone’s digital zoom. The VTec 12x Telephoto Lens for iPhone 4/4S (£28 from carphonewarehouse.com) allows you to get much closer without a drastic loss in image quality. Its manual focus barrel adds precision. Camera shake can affect shots at high magnifications, so the telephoto comes with a mini-tripod. VTec also makes lenses for the Samsung Galaxy range of phones (see vtec.co.uk).

None of this is going to make your smartphone a match for a DSLR or compact system camera. Low light conditions are a challenge, and if you need the highest image quality you should look elsewhere. But there’s no longer any need to carry two separate gadgets to capture and share your holiday snaps. Check out iphoneography.com to see what is possible with just your smartphone.

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